Stephen King Is No Fan Of Marvel Movies

I don’t go to MCU movies, don’t care for them, but I find this barely masked gloating over the low box office for The Marvels very unpleasant. Why gloat over failure?” he wrote in a post on X.

Despite having a reported budget in the range of $225 million, The Marvels has been deemed a box office disaster, opening at $47 million, the lowest for any film in the MCU.

The global debut fared only slightly better at $68 million. Some toxic trolls, mentioned by Stephen King, appeared to celebrate the poor opening, specifically targeting The Marvels for centering around three female superheroes.

In a separate post, Stephen King added, “Some of the rejection of The Marvels may be adolescent fanboy hate. You know, “Yuck! Girls!”

Since Brie Larson’s casting as Captain Marvel, she has been open about dealing with toxic trolls on social media.

When her standalone movie premiered in 2019, it faced a barrage of negative reviews orchestrated by misogynistic fans.

These individuals, like the ones mentioned by Stephen King, sought to manipulate Captain Marvel’s community rating on platforms like Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb despite not having seen the movie. 

The Marvels marks the second major release to fall short, following the lackluster performance of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which only earned $476 million globally earlier in the year.

The Marvels failure is likely not attributed to a singular factor. Superhero fatigue, a sentiment acknowledged by director Nia DaCosta, might have played a role.

DaCosta expressed optimism that the film’s “wacky” tone could set it apart from other superhero movies. Additionally, the SAG-AFTRA strike hindered the cast’s involvement in promoting the film, severely affecting its marketing efforts.

Moreover, several high-profile directors have publicly slammed the superhero genre in the last few years, unlike Stephen King’s defense of The Marvels.

Martin Scorsese’s most notable criticism came when he said that Marvel movies are not “cinema” but more like theme park attractions. He expressed concern that the films prioritize spectacle and entertainment over complex human emotions and characters.

Francis Ford Coppola’s criticism was particularly strong, as he referred to Marvel movies as “despicable.” While he didn’t elaborate extensively on his statement, it suggested a strong disapproval of the artistic impact of these films.

Coppola has a rich history of directing critically acclaimed films, and his comments reflected a concern about the artistic direction of contemporary blockbuster cinema.

While Stephen King may not be a Marvel fan, he does have a bit of history with the comic book giant. In 1985, he contributed to a short charity special titled Heroes for Hope Starring the X-Men, where he introduced the villain Hungry.

Marvel later adapted some of King’s works, including comic book versions of The Dark Tower and The Stand.

Meanwhile, Stephen King has had mixed opinions about Marvel and DC movies. While he has stated that he generally does not care for the genre, he has made exceptions for specific films.

For instance, he gave a glowing review of the DC movie The Flash, describing it as special, heartfelt, funny, and eye-popping, despite not being a fan of superhero movies in general.